


Feeling Too Deeply

by NightOfTheLand



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Anal Sex, Established Relationship, M/M, Not Beta Read, Overstimulation, Porn with Feelings, Post Season 2, Rimming, men not talking about feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:01:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27278419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightOfTheLand/pseuds/NightOfTheLand
Summary: “Chris couldn’t tell you who moved first, or how he ended up on his back on the small couch, the hard cushion digging into his back, even as soft lips found his in a kiss that he could only call life affirming.”~Established Pike/Tyler sharing a moment after Season 2 finale
Relationships: Christopher Pike/Ash Tyler | Voq
Comments: 5
Kudos: 20





	Feeling Too Deeply

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, okay so these two have taken up space rent free in my brain and I have descended into rare pair hell. So, I figured, what the hell? I’ll write for them and join the awesome writers who have already written for this rare pair!
> 
> I have many thoughts about these two and already have more for this little universe I’ve created, including some painfully adorable domestic Piler. I also have thoughts about Klingons and body jewelry aka piercings so scream at me about those in the comments if you’d like. 
> 
> This has not been beta’d except for multiple rereads at like 2am before I posted. All mistakes are mine.

The door chime startled him from his spinning thoughts, body jerking slightly as that human instinct of fight or flights flared momentarily, fingers spasming on his glass just enough to lose their grip. The momentary silence left just after the chime was met with a sharp shattering of glass followed by low curses. For Chris Pike it was the proverbial icing on the cake of the day—week month  _ year _ —he had had. Twitching the hand that had just moments ago been holding a glass with which he had planned to use as an aid to drown his roiling emotions with alcohol, Chris grumbled under his breath before he sighed and stepped carefully around the broken glass and amber liquid on the floor. One more mess to clean up. 

The door chimed again and Chris could feel his left eye twitch slightly at the sound. The preview screen next to the outer door showed him an even more depressing picture than his broken glass and spilled bourbon. Ash Tyler stood on his doorstep, shoulders hunched in, hands clasped in front of him, head down just enough that that frankly ridiculous hair obscured most of his face. But Chris could see the set of his bearded jaw, the tension in his whole body and he knew it mirrored his own tension. And as much as he and Tyler had had their differences they had both faced deep losses together. 

Chris sighed to himself before palming the door open, the whoosh displaying the haggard Tyler in person. And he looked even worse in person, eyes bloodshot and red rimmed. And a quick breath was all it took to smell the alcohol wafting off the other man. Chris never in his short time knowing the other man thought that he would see him in this state. 

“Tyler,” Chris greeted with a soft sigh as those bloodshot eyes met his and he felt something he had told himself he was leaving on the Discovery stir in his belly. “I’d offer you a drink but it seems you’ve had enough,” he quipped even as he gestured for the other man to join him inside. 

The apartment was small and impersonal, quarters set aside for Starfleet personnel who found themselves dirt side for a period of time but not long enough to warrant finding permanent accommodation. It suited Chris’s needs well enough, with more space than he was used to after serving on star ships for most of his adult life. One became accustomed to small quarters and even smaller beds. Though being captain came with a least a little bit bigger bed. 

Tyler trudged into the small living room, head down and shoulders hunched as if waiting for Chris to scold him for showing up on his door step. And something inside Chris (that same thing he had told himself he was leaving behind) twisted painfully inside his chest. 

“Sit,” he said, trying his best to not make the word sound like an order. He didn’t want to be Captain Pike here. He wanted to be Chris and - God help him - he wanted Tyler to be Ash like they had for those few stolen nights seemingly forever ago, both lonely and feeling too much and scared (though they would never admit that last bit to each other). 

Shaking himself from his thoughts, Chris turned back to the small kitchen, a redundancy that Chris enjoyed even though he had thus far only made use of the replicator. Soon he would find the time to cook (maybe in the morning and maybe for more than just himself, the lizard side of his brain whispered). Now he fetched a glass of cool water from the replicator and headed back to the living room, stepping carefully around the mess he had made earlier. He was in mission mode, focused on figuring out what made the wayward Ash Tyler show on his doorstep at - he glanced at the chrono on the wall - 01:47 Earth Standard time. 

Tyler had perched himself on the very edge of the small couch on the middle of the room, hands clenched in his lap, eyes fixed down. He took the offered glass with a small smile, glancing up with eyes big and damp in a way that made all protective instinct in Chris scream. He stamped down that impulse, he knew Tyler was more than capable of fighting his own battles but he also knew that he would step in if Tyler asked him to. 

“Thanks,” Tyler mumbled after he had downed over half the glass, tongue licking his lips, distracting Chris at the vivid memories of what that tongue could do. He shook himself from distraction and focused on watching Tyler fidget slightly with the glass, as he settled himself on the other side of the couch, the only other place to sit in the small room. 

Chris took a deep breath, before he let it out in one long breath. “What a shit show, huh?” He commented, going for a light tone despite the heavy air that settled between them. 

Deep dark brown eyes glanced up at him and he saw a whole sea of emotions in them that he couldn’t name. Lips quirked up in what Chris could only call a sardonic smile. “That’s one way of phrasing it,” Tyler replied, words not nearly as slurred as Chris was expecting them to be based on the appearance of the other man. 

Nodding, Chris met that sardonic smile with one of his own. “I believe the best phrasing would be SNAFU but that seemed a little too generous,” he said with a soft laugh. 

“Maybe,” Tyler said, dropping his eyes back to his mostly empty water glass, a little smile playing around his lips. 

The silence stretched between them for a long moment, the only sound San Francisco nightlife muffled through the window glass. Chris found it relaxing, not too terribly unlike the constant noise of a starship. He watched the other man, thinking about all the things he could say, the comfort he could offer, how he could extol the virtue of duty to this man who had seen his fair share of duty even if it had been to a once enemy. Instead he said nothing, letting Tyler drain his water glass and set it on the small table in front of them. 

The other man must have felt him staring, because those deep brown eyes were soon staring back at him, something that Chris very easily read as desire boiling in them, and he knew he was looking at the other man with something similar. Once upon a time Chris may have worked to hide his desire, may have written it off as a function of human biology, but not now, not today. Ash Tyler was an attractive man, even knowing all that Chris knew about him, he was still someone that Chris was not ashamed to admit he would happily fall into bed with (whom he had fallen into bed with several times, as well as the couch and one occasion the floor of the washroom in his quarters). 

Chris couldn’t tell you who moved first, or how he ended up on his back on the small couch, the hard cushion digging into his back, even as soft lips found his in a kiss that he could only call life affirming. Fingers were tangled in his hair, pulling slightly, as teeth knocked together, making Chris grunt against Tyler’s lips. He thread his own fingers through the soft dark locks, enjoying the silky brush of hair against his skin, before he tugged on Tyler’s hair, making the other man groan. Tyler’s body was an almost comforting and familiar weight against his, hips straddling him, that firm and perfect ass nestling against Chris’s lap where his cock was taking serious interest. 

The slick side of tongues made Chris shiver and arch up against the firm weight of Tyler in his lap. His cock was aching in the confines of his tight trousers and he gasped as Tyler nipped at his bottom lip before swiping his tongue over it to soothe the sting. He tugged a little harder on Tyler’s hair, fist full of silky hair pulling the other man back slightly. But Tyler let himself go, releasing Chris’s lips with a slick sound. 

“Bed?” Chris managed to bite out as Tyler rolled his hips against him with a wicked smile. 

Disappointment stung Chris for a moment as Tyler let his lap, all long limbs and graceful dancer like movements before he reached down to help Chris up, fingers threading with Chris’s and for a moment Chris was struck by the sight they made, smooth dark skin against this rougher pale skin and the moment burst as Tyler heaved him up and back into a kiss. 

It was a good thing the apartment was small as Chris walked them backwards, Tyler’s hands on his hips, fingers teasing at bare skin under his shirt, as Chris gasped and licked into the kiss, his own hands back in Tyler’s hair. Somehow they only managed to hit the door jamb briefly before they stumbled into the half dark bedroom. The blinds had been left open, the lights of the city filtering in giving them just enough light to see by. And if they hadn’t been so preoccupied Chris would have taken a moment to enjoy the view of the city from the 17th floor. But alas, the backs of his knees hit the edge of the bed and he flopped down gracelessly, pulling Tyler down on top of him. 

The other man huffed out a laugh as he landed on top of Chris, bodies a tangle of limbs before lips met again, hands searching under clothing for warm skin already growing damp from exertion. Chris groaned as Tyler broke the kiss to tug his shirt over his head, making him shiver as his bare skin was exposed to the cool air that was rapidly heating from their bodies. Tyler ran an appreciative hand down Chris’s chest, stopping to tweak his left nipple before he brushed fingers through his chest hair and down over his softer than he’d like belly. Chris sighed and let his head fall back as lips found the side of his neck and licked and nibbled there, he arched his hips up seeking friction as Tyler hit a particularly sensitive spot, the other man chuckling darkly against his skin before he licked the spot again. 

Chris tugged at Tyler’s dark jacket, fingers fumbling on the zipper before it gave way. Together they pulled it off broad shoulders and soon it was discarded somewhere to be discovered later and Chris ran his hands under the black shirt, palms warm against warm skin and he wanted  _ needed  _ more.

“Off,” he grumbled, tugging at the hem of the shirt and Tyler chuckled darkly again, but leaned back from where he was sucking what Chris was sure was going to be an impressive bruise into the skin of his collarbone in order to pull his shirt over his head. He tossed it aside, shaking his head to straighten his hair as much as he could and Chris didn’t think he would ever get over seeing this man shirtless. 

Pale fingers traced over dark skin, carding through soft chest hair, tweaking dusty nipples making the other man gasp, head tossed back, leaning back on his heels, before dark eyes snapped open and met his gaze with a look that went straight to Chris’s cock. 

“Chris,” Tyler murmured, leaning close, his lips brushing Chris’s briefly, “I want to fuck you.” 

A shiver went through Chris’s whole body at the gravely tone and he stared into those dark eyes for a moment before he quirked his lips up into an almost challenging smile. “Better make it good,” he said, ignoring the almost breathless quality to his own voice. 

Something Chris could only describe as downright evil crossed Tyler’s features, as the other man leaned down to whisper into Chris’s ear, breath hot against the shell, voice low and warm and languid, “I’ll spoil you for any one else. Mine will be the only name you ever want to scream again.” 

Everything in him short circuited at that and he gasped harshly, arching his hips up, looking for some kind of friction against his now screaming cock. Tyler chuckled again and licked the shell of his ear, before trailing his tongue down the side of Chris’s neck, licking at the sweat that was already beading in the hollow of his throat. Teeth nipped at flushed skin and Chris closed his eyes and let his head fall back, biting his own lip all semblance of the Starfleet Captain that he was tossed aside in his pleasure. 

Clever fingers teased at the hem of his pants, hesitating slightly, and Chris forced himself to blink his eyes open long enough to look down at where Tyler was looking up at him in question. A teasingly quirked eyebrow coupled with the sheer desire on Tyler’s face made him release a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “Yes,” he hissed out on air, word drawing out into a moan as a large palm brushed over the bulge in his trousers. 

Tyler grinned that familiar crooked grin at him before he made quick work of the button and fly, Chris lifting his hips enough for them to pull the thigh trousers and regulation briefs down, Chris’s cock springing free, head already weeping against his lower belly. The trousers were discarded like the rest of the clothing and Tyler sat back on his heels for much too long. His dark eyes were dancing over Chris’s now entirely naked form, and as ridiculous as it was Chris could feel his face heat from something he was hesitant to name. Tyler bit his lip slightly, eyes settling on the twitching cock leaking steadily now. 

“Turn over,” Tyler rasped, so low Chris thought he had dreamed it. His own eyes went wide as he watched Tyler lick his lips and oh God if he was going to do what Chris thought he was Chris wasn’t sure if he would last. 

Chris’s pulse pounded in his head as he pushed himself up, crawling up the bed, settling himself on his hands and knees, reaching for one of regulation flat pillows to clutch at (or smoother his screams, the lizard part of his brain helpfully supplied). He squeezed his eyes closed as he felt the bed dip slightly, weight shifting and he heard the rustle of clothing before he bed dipped again and warm rough palms stroked over his ass. He jumped slightly at the touch, huffing slightly in Tyler’s barely there “Sorry” before he sighed as firm fingers massaged the muscle of his ass. 

Warm hands smoothed up his back, eased by the light sheen of sweat already dampening his skin, and he sighed again as fingers dug into tense muscles before trailing back down to grope at his ass again. He pressed his face against the pillow, cracking one eye to look behind him as best he could without moving. Those clever fingers kneaded at his ass for another minute before he felt his cheeks being spread. Ah fuck, he wasn’t sure he was going to survive this. He moaned at the feeling, closing his eyes against the knowledge that this was something he and Tyler had not done in their previous times. But something a very clever hook up had once done with his bisected tongue that he had been able to control each side independently. 

Warm breath ghosted over him and Chris shivered. He could feel his hole flutter slightly, body reacting in anticipation. Wet lips pressed to his skin just above his hole and he bit back a moan. He knew the scrape of Tyler’s beard would make this even better but he hadn’t been prepared. Lips pressed again and again over his skin and he felt himself flushing as sounds left his lips he knew were unflattering of his position as a Starfleet officer. But fucking hell, oh fuck, Tyler was lapping at him with his tongue now. 

Chris’s hands gripped at the pillow he was clutching as he tried his best to not buck back into Tyler’s mouth. That tongue was now darting in and out of just shy of breaching his hole and he would feel his body relaxing and opening for Tyler. LIghts sparked behind his eyes and his cock was aching, hanging hard and heavy between his thighs. He knew that if he were to reach down and touch himself he would come much too soon and he never wanted to this end. 

“Ah fuck!” He cried out, voice too loud in the room as Tyler’s tongue finally breached him, the muscles of his hole fluttering around the warm wet intrusion. “Fuck,” he practically sobbed as that tongue started moving. The juxtaposition of the silky slide of Tyler’s tongue inside him with the feeling of Tyler’s beard rough against his skin was making him dizzy with need. 

He felt Tyler chuckle behind him, vibrations making his head spin as he lost the fight against bucking back into the sensations. FIngers tightened on his skin in warning and Chris’s hips twitched slightly as he let out another noise very much like a sob. 

“Touch yourself,” Tyler’s words were breathed against Chris’s hole, hot breath making Chris see stars and he moaned softly. 

It was futile shaking his head against the pillow but he did anyway. “Want - I want,” he swallowed hard, his mouth dry, head fuzzy as that tongue lapped at him even as he was trying to fucking think. “Fuck, I want you to fuck me!” 

Tyler chuckled softly, shifting slightly, nose brushing Chris’s fluttering wet hole. “I will, don’t worry,” he rasped against Chris’s skin, a slick finger suddenly dancing next to his tongue. (Where he had gotten lube from Chris wasn’t sure.) “Don’t worry,” he repeated, “We have all night.” 

Chris bit his lip for a moment as he wanted to snark back that he wasn’t twenty anymore, he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to get it back up for Tyler to fuck him, but all thought left him as that finger pressed against him, the tip breaching him just enough for Chris to gasp in surprise. 

“Touch your cock,” Tyler said again, finger rocking just slightly inside him. And Chris bit out a moan as he shifted himself up onto one arm so he could get his right hand under himself. He sobbed slightly as he wrapped his fingers around his neglected cock. This was the first time his cock had been touched directly all night and he could already feel the heat boiling in his belly and his balls starting to tighten as he stroked himself, thumbing at the soaked head. 

“Nice and slow,” Tyler’s voice sounded like it was coming from underwater, the finger inside him pressing further inside, crooking just so and the pad of Tyler’s finger found his prostate and Chris cried out. 

Tyler chuckled behind him, breath hot against overheating skin. “Keep going, don’t stop,” he whispered against damp skin before his tongue joined his finger and Chris did sob this time. 

He squeezed his eyes tightly shut as he stroked his cock, the finger inside him stroking his prostate in counterpoint, that tongue dancing around the sensitive nerves of his hole. He thumbed the head of his cock and used his pre-come to ease the friction against the rock hard velvet of his aching cock. An inferno was burning in his belly now, a supernova ready to blow. He whimpered as his body shook and he bucked back into the mouth and finger inside him as he twisted his palm over the soaked head of his cock on the up stroke and his balls drew up and the supernova in his belly exploded and he came. 

Chris knew he was babbling, body trembling as he stroked himself through his orgasm, cock spilling all over his hand and his chest and the sheets below him. Tyler still had his mouth on him and that insistent press against his prostate had become two fingers - when had that happened? 

“There you go,” Tyler rasped, rubbing his beard over the already red and sensitive skin between Chris’s cheeks. “Sound so pretty when you come.” 

Chris sighed softly, even as his body twitched and hummed against the on coming oversensitivity of having Tyler continue to touch him. His hips twitched at each press of fingers inside him and he let out a half sob half laugh as he realized Tyler’s plan. He supposed they both needed it, better than drinking the pain away. (At least so he told himself.) 

“Ash,” Chris gasped, “Please.” 

Behind him, Tyler pressed a soft kiss to the swell of his left ass cheek before he leaned back, fingers slipping from Chris’s body, making him gasp at the sudden empty feeling. 

“Turn over?” 

It was posed as a question, and Chris could hear the hesitance in Tyler’s voice. Something clenched in Chris’s chest and as much as he knew he would be worthless tomorrow if they kept going tonight he didn’t care. With a grunt, Chris let himself flop over onto his back, knees drawn up, arms over his head body open and on display. His softening cock rested against his belly and he met Tyler’s hungry gaze. “I trust you,” he said softly, ignoring how wrecked he sounded. 

Something shifted then between them and he watched as Tyler bit his lower lip, eyes dark and full of need. His tan skin was flushed with his arousal, nipples hard pebbles, cock long and hard between his thighs, the bead of his ceremonial piercing gleaming in the low light, head wet and shining. Chris dragged his eyes back up Tyler’s body to meet that pupil blown gaze. He gave him a half quirked smirk before Tyler was on him, nestled between his spread legs, mysteriously procured bottle of lube in his hand, already coating two fingers again. 

Chris let his head fall back as two fingers circled his hole again, pressing inside him, the pleasure just on the right edge of too much. He blindly groped for the pillow he had been using before, canting his hips up to shove the pillow under his hips to get the right angle. He gasped as those fingers inside him shifted as he and Tyler worked to adjust the pillow to the right position. 

Tyler crooked his fingers just right and Chris cried out, back arching, arms reaching back over his head to the headboard. A third finger teased at his hole and he felt his soft cock twitch in interest. Hot breath ghosted over the sensitive flesh and he squinted his eyes open to look down to see Tyler hovering just above his cock. Dark eyes glanced up and met his gaze before taking the soft appendage between spit slick lips and swallowing his softening cock whole. 

“Ah, Ash!” Chris cried out, hips canting up, hole clenching around the fingers inside him, as they moved and thrust and stretched his body open, making him ready to take Tyler. 

Tyler moaned in response, and it was an incredibly strange if not erotic sensation of feeling his body respond and begin to almost painfully harden in the warm wet cavern of Tyler’s mouth. His fingers spasmed around the headboard and he bit back curses at the suction of Tyler’s mouth around his cock which was now rapidly becoming hard. That mouth pulled off until Tyler was just suckling at the head, and Chris could feel his breathing becoming labored. 

He bucked up into the feeling of fingers dancing over his prostate, a half broken noise leaving him, even as Tyler let his now hard cock slip from his swollen lips. Those fingers slipped from inside him and Chris felt his body clenching around nothing, the feeling of emptiness making him moan, even as he met Tyler’s dark eyes as the other man settled between his spread thighs. 

The sudden vulnerability he saw in those dark eyes stole his breath and he reached down to cup Tyler’s face in both hands. He brushed his thumbs over high cheekbones, fingers carding through his matted beard. “C’mon,” he said softly, “Nothing to prove to me, Ash.” 

Tyler made a soft noise before he surged up and pressed his forehead to Chris’s, lips parted as he panted out hot breaths against Chris’s lips. “Chris,” he panted, as Chris let his hands trail down to cup the back of Tyler’s head, the other smoothing over the sweat damp skin of Tyler’s back, feeling the way muscles shifted under heated skin. 

“Let me feel you,” Chris whispered back, leaning up to take Tyler’s lips in a searing kiss, ignoring the faint taste of musk there, wrapping his legs around Tyler’s waist as the head of Tyler’s cock pressed to his slick open hole. He gasped into the kiss as the head breached him, the bead of the piercing making lightning spark in his veins as Tyler sank into him. He would never get over how good that damn thing felt inside him. 

Tyler broke the kiss as he bottomed out, hips twitching as if trying to sink more into Chris’s willing body. He rested his cheek against Chris’s panting heavily. “You’re always so tight,” he mumbled against flushed skin, and Chris chuckled softly, clenching around the cock inside him deliberately. 

His nerve endings were screaming, his over sensitive aching cock twitching between them, there was something about the feeling of being connected to another being like this that made his often over active and analytical mind still and he hooked his ankles around Tyler’s waist, pulling him closer. 

“And you always make me want to scream your name,” Chris murmured, feeling his face flush at his confession. When had this night gone from the hot and heavy boarding on kinky start to this? - whatever this was. 

Tyler pulled back slightly to look down at him, his eyes brimming with everything between them both knew they would never be able to say. “Say it,” Tyler murmured a he rocked his hips back, cock dragging inside Chris making his breath catch in his chest. “Say my name as I make you come again.” 

The steady rhythm made Chris arch up into the rock of Tyler’s hips, the bead of the piercing stroking his insides in just the right way, Tyler’s clever fingers coming back to wrap around Chris’s cock, as Chris let his arms flail back above his head, clutching at the headboard again. Tyler’s free hand was clutching at his hip, and he was sure he’d have more bruises to add to his collection. It didn’t take long for Chris to be gasping out nonsense syllables little  _ ah, ah, ah _ s being punched from him with each thrust. His cock was weeping once more, less than it had been before and it didn’t take too many strokes and thrusts for Chris to cry out, his body tightening around Tyler.

“Ash!” He screamed as he came, cock weakly spurting all over Tyler’s hand and his own belly. 

He could feel Tyler’s thrusts being to falter and he canted his hips up, the angle changing, forcing that cock deeper, his ankles pulling Tyler closer. One hand came up to pull Tyler back into a bruising kiss. “Come for me, scream my name when you come,” Chris gasped into the kiss as he could feel Tyler leaking inside him, hot and heavy in his body. “Come for me, love.” 

Tyler’s hips jerked forward in an almost painful thrust as Chris felt heat flood him, wet and sticky and oh so perfect, as Tyler rocked through his orgasm, panting into an open mouthed kiss. It felt like a lifetime for Tyler’s cock to stop twitching inside him, his body now completely claimed by this man wrapped around him. 

Chris wrapped himself around Tyler’s panting, sweat soaked body as the other man collapsed on to him, ignoring the mess between them, face pressed against Chris’s neck. He can feel the hot panted breaths against his skin, smoothing his palms up and down Tyler’s heaving back. He knows his breathing isn’t any better, but he wouldn’t trade this moment for the world - for any of the worlds out there. 

It doesn’t take long for Tylers now soft cock to slip from Chris’s entirely overly sensitive body, followed by the feeling of now lukewarm come leaking from his aching hole. He was going to feel this in his body tomorrow that’s for sure. He sighed contentedly even as Tyler stirred in his arms. He didn’t hold on as the other man moved to sit up, but only pushed himself up to look down at Chris, something in his eyes that Chris couldn’t identify. 

“Did,” Tyler cut himself off, eyes darting away from Chris’s face, but Chris was having none of it, reached out with languid movements to cup the side of Tyler’s face. 

“Did what?” He asked softly, 

“Nothing, just a slip of the tongue I’m sure,” Tylermurmured as he moved to get up, but Chris held tight, wracking his brain for what Tyler could possibly be talking about. 

The moment just before Tyler came and Chris’s own words fluttered back to him.  _ Love.  _ He had slipped but it wasn’t as if it wasn’t true. The storm of emotions in his chest roared back to life and he gave Tyler a look that he hoped could say more than any words. “It wasn’t,” he said softly, “I know I shouldn’t but I do.” 

Dark eyes stared at him and Tyler blinked at him more times than was necessarily normal which told Christ not to pry too much. Instead he gave Tyler a soft smile, an almost teasing quirk of his lips. “You don’t have to say it or feel it back. It’s okay,” Chris said, his voice blessedly staying steady even as he felt like he was going to choke on his own emotions. 

They stared at each other for a long moment, not saying anything before Chris had to speak again. “Shower with me?” 

The tangle of emotions in his chest untangled slightly as Tyler took his offered hand and followed him into the washroom, and the air shifted between them as they washed off together, their general undercurrent of teasing coming back.

**** 

Dawn hadn’t been that far off by the time they had poured themselves back into bed, the duvet stripped off and dumped with their clothes. Chris fell asleep with Tyler sprawled across his chest, breath hot on his skin. Holding the other man eased the storm in his chest some, but it still raged inside him. 

By the time Chris woke later that morning, sun fully up by then, his body pleasantly sore and aching in all the best places, he was alone in bed. A large part of him, larger than he would ever admit out loud, was disappointed that apparently Tyler had fled while he slept. But another part of him wasn’t surprised. 

He stretched languidly on the mattress, taking stock of his various aches, where muscles pulled more than normal, body humming just on the right side of exhaustion. Command had ordered them all to stand down today, while they conferred and discussed their course of action. Chris had, after all, overseen the loss of Starfleet’s secret weapon; he knew consequences were to be had even if it was just a stern talking to. 

A noise from the kitchen made him push himself upright, heart immediately pounding in his chest, brain kicking into fight mode before he heard soft humming that accompanied the sound of… were those pans being moved around? 

Curiosity got the best of him, that little voice in the back of his brain hopeful that Tyler had stayed the night after all. And was now cooking in his little kitchen? It was almost too much. He shuffled off the bed, feeling his thighs burn, his lower body ache, as he dug out a pair of worn sleep pants, pulling them on even as he told himself to not get too excited. 

If hearts could skip beats, his skipped several when the sight of Ash Tyler in the small kitchen wearing only his tight regulation briefs and what must have been one of Chris’s shirts, standing before the small counter top, knife in hand chopping what smelled like.. onions? He must have made noise because those dark eyes flicked up to meet his disbelieving gaze. 

“Good morning,” Tyler said softly, setting the knife aside, wiping his hands on the towel over his shoulder. “I - uh - I hope you don’t mind.” He gestured around him, and it was then that Chris saw the casserole dish that was filled with ingredients. 

Chris shook his head, both in an attempt to reconcile what he was seeing with how he thought this day was going to go, and in response. “No - of course not. Please,” he replied, knowing he sounded bemused. 

Tyler gave him a crooked smile and turned his attention back to the onions, scooping them into the casserole before he slipped the dish into the small oven. Chris took the moment of comfortable silence to watch the other man, taking in the ease he moved in the kitchen, noting that the glass and spilled alcohol from last night had been cleaned up. Just another way Ash Tyler was cleaning up after Christopher Pike’s messes, it seemed. 

“I ordered some groceries, hope you don’t mind.” Tyler looked so hopeful that Chris didn’t even fight the goofy smile that crossed his face even as he was startled from his thoughts. 

“Never,” he said, crossing the small space in a few steps, wrapping his arms around Tyler’s waist, pulling the other man close to him. Dark eyes were hopeful and Chris held him close, bodies pressed together at the hips, before he leaned in and captured those soft lips in a slow kiss. Tyler's beard tickled his skin and he tasted faintly citrusy and Chris sighed into the kiss as clever fingers tangled in his hair, teasing at the short hair at the nape of his neck, one hand resting on the small of his back. 

They were slow to break the kiss, pulling back just enough so they could breath, foreheads pressed together, Tyler’s fingers still teasing at the small hairs of his neck making him shiver. He flexed his fingers where he was holding Tyler’s waist. “You can cook in my kitchen any time you want,” he said, sounding a little breathless. 

A bark of laughter broke their moment. “Was that an innuendo, Captain?” 

Chris couldn’t help but fondly roll his eyes, something warm settling in his chest, lips stuck in their smile. “I wouldn’t dream of it, Specialist,” he teased back, allowing Tyler to capture his lips again in another kiss, this one a little harder, but it was hard to kiss when both of them couldn’t stop laughing at the absurdity of it all. 

Instead they stood in the small kitchen, foreheads pressed together, breathing each other's air, hands smoothing over each other's bodies, exploring for the sake of exploring rather than with any purpose in mind. It was a little stolen moment, Chris knew, in the chaos of their lives. One which he wished could turn into more than something fleeting and foreign - despite how at ease he felt and how comfortable it was holding Tyler in his arms, swaying softly in this small kitchen, the smell of something delicious beginning to emanate from the oven. 

“I’m thinking of taking some leave,” Chris whispered softly into the space between them, words laced with an almost youthful hope, a feeling he hadn’t had since well before his days at the Academy. 

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah.” He swallowed hard around the next words he wanted to speak but found himself unable to speak them. This thing between them was so precarious, so fraught with everything, teetering on the edge of being more than a ship fling, Chris was afraid any hint at being something more would tip the careful balance backwards and he would lose these moments entirely. 

Silence reigned between them and Chris was acutely aware of the subtle shift in Tyler’s posture feeling his body tense just slight. “I was thinking of doing the same,” his voice was just as soft in the silence between them and Chris pulled back from their embrace to meet Tyler’s gaze. 

Dark eyes were warm and full of an unnamable emotion and Chris felt his heart flutter in his chest just slightly. The air between them sparked with everything unsaid and after a long deep breath Chris quirked his lips into his patent crooked smile. 

“Ever been to Mojave, Mr. Tyler?” 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Well, that happened. Scream at me in the comments if you want. Tell me if you want more of this rare pair. Like I said, they are living rent free in my brain and are an excellent distraction from real life.


End file.
